Dale Cairns Thomson (17 June 1923 – 27 April 1999) was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

and departmental director at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

, professor and Vice-Principal of

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

and a professor of international relations and Director of the Center of Canadian Studies at Johns Hopkins University's

School of Advanced International Studies The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C. The school also maintains campuses in Bologna, Italy and Nanjing, China. The school is devoted to the study of int ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and the

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

of several important historical works. Born on a

Westlock Westlock is a town in central Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1913, the town is primarily an agricultural, business, and government administration centre serving communities and rural areas within surrounding Westlock County. Geography Westlock ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

, Dale Thomson served in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. At the end of the war, he attended the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

, graduating with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

degree in 1948. Fluent in the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

, he then obtained a diploma in international relations from the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

in 1950 and his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from the university's Faculty of Letters in 1951. To do his thesis entitled " General Haushofer and his Ideas on Geopolitics," Thomson spent time in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, becoming fluent in the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

. Returning to Canada, Thomson worked for a short time at the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

before being invited to serve as Associate Private Secretary to

Canadian Prime Minister The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a ...

Louis St. Laurent Louis Stephen St. Laurent (; February 1, 1882 – July 25, 1973) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 12th prime minister of Canada from 1948 to 1957. Born and raised in southeastern Quebec, St. Laurent was a leading la ...

where he remained until 1958. Involved with both the

Liberal Party of Quebec The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuan ...

and the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

, in the

1958 Canadian federal election The 1958 Canadian federal election was held to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 24th Parliament of Canada on March 31, 1958, just nine months after the 23rd election. It transformed Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's mi ...

Thomson was the unsuccessful Liberal candidate in the

Jasper—Edson Jasper—Edson was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1968. This riding was created in 1933 from parts of Peace River (federal electora ...

riding. Following his brief foray into politics, Thomson returned to academia where he forged an outstanding career that included authoring a number of important books. In addition, he wrote articles in the Canadian press and was a frequent television and radio guest commentator concerning Canadian politics. Dale Thomson died in 1999 after a lengthy illness. His archive is held at the

Archives.

Academic positions

- professor (1960–1969), departmental director (1963–1967) * Johns Hopkins University's

- professor of international relations and founding director of the Director of the Center of Canadian Studies (1969–1973) *

- Vice-Principal (1973–1976) and Professor of Political Science (1973–1994)

Affiliations

Association for Canadian Studies The Association for Canadian Studies is a non-profit organization, founded at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, in 1973. Its activities are conducted in both official languages of Canada. Through the organization, its individual and institu ...

in the United States * Canadian Political Science Association/Société Canadienne de Science Politique * International Society for Political Psychology * International Association for Mass Communication Research * Member of the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Books

*''Alexander Mackenzie : Clear Grit'' (1960) *''Louis St. Laurent, Canadian'' (1967) *''Canadian Foreign Policy : Options And Perspectives'' (with Roger F. Swanson, 1971) *''Quebec Society And Politics: Views From The Inside'' (1973) *''Mémoire à la Commission parlementaire de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec à propos du projet de loi no 1, Charte de la langue française au Québec'' (1977) *''Jean Lesage & The Quiet Revolution'' (1984) *''

Vive le Québec Libre " (, 'Long live free Quebec!') was a phrase in a speech delivered by French President Charles de Gaulle in Montreal, Quebec on July 24, 1967, during an official visit to Canada for the Expo 67 world's fair. While giving an address to a large c ...

'' (1988)

External links

Dale Cairns Thomson Fonds
McGill University Library & Archives
Empire Club Addresses, Dale C. Thomson, March 12, 1970

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Dale C. Canadian military personnel of World War II Canadian recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) University of Alberta alumni University of Paris alumni Academic staff of McGill University Members of the United Church of Canada Academic staff of the Université de Montréal Johns Hopkins University faculty Canadian non-fiction writers People from Westlock County 1923 births 1999 deaths Candidates in the 1958 Canadian federal election Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons 20th-century non-fiction writers Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian expatriates in France Canadian expatriates in Germany 20th-century Canadian political scientists